SNARRY-A-THON10: FIC: The Marauders Ride AgainTitle: The Marauders Ride AgainAuthor:sweetmelodykissOther Pairing/Threesomes: Neville/OFCRating: PG-13Word Count: 6,143Warning(s): (highlight for spoilers) *Temporary gender swapping, mild hint at possible M-Preg, set post-war*Prompt: #106 - Kicked out of the hereafter - all Hallows Eve and the veil is thin. Harry is drawn from a celebration at Godric's Hollow into the graveyard, where he encounters (canon character(s) of your choice). Severus appears at Harry's feet, not quite conscious. Character(s) ask Harry to watch over Severus and to find happiness in his life.Summary See prompt.A/N: As huge thanks as always to my wonderful beta *A*.

The Marauders Ride Again

The October night was dark and cool. Rain threatened and the moon was hidden behind black clouds that occasionally flashed with lightning. The sky rumbled ominously, like the belly of a hungry dragon in search of prey.

Despite the promise of bad weather, the celebration at Godric’s Hollow drew a large crowd. Harry had gone just to appease Ron and Hermione, but his heart really wasn’t in it. Too many things had happened in the past year and Harry found it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for the All Hallows Eve gala.

Harry’s untimely break up with Ginny Weasley weighed heavily on his conscience. Ron was still angry with him, but he’d almost gotten over it. Harry had tried to explain his reasons, but only he knew the truth deep down inside. Harry preferred men. The realisation had been an epiphany, of sorts, when Harry continued to think about Snape even after his death.

Harry suffered in silence, not wanting to burden his friends with his morbid fascination for Snape. He longed to know the man better, even though he’d been in love with his mother. The fact that Snape’s body had vanished after the final battle didn’t help the situation. It only reinforced the mystery surrounding the dark wizard, and Harry’s determination to find out what happened to the dour man.

“Harry, come join the dancing.” Hermione shouted from the edge of the crowd.

“Not now.” Harry shouted back.

There was a strange roaring sound in Harry’s ears. He couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but it was getting louder. Harry turned and walked away from the crowd of merry makers and headed down the path toward the graveyard. The further he went the louder the roaring got. Suddenly, Harry recognised the sound. The roar of the engine rumbled in the darkness and lightly shook the ground beneath Harry’s feet. Somewhere up ahead, Harry could just make out the silhouette of a motorbike. Harry gasped, as he got closer. It was Sirius’ motorbike and Sirius was sitting astride the machine smiling at him as if nothing had happened, as if he was still alive and had just come back from a long trip.

The blood drained from Harry’s face when he realized that Sirius’ wasn’t alone. Standing beside the bike were James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They all smiled and waved at him, beckoning him forward. Harry felt weak in the knees as he shakily made his way over to the grinning foursome. At that moment, Harry almost fainted. It had to be a dream, Harry thought, as he reached out a trembling hand to touch his long dead father.

“Sorry, son, but you can’t touch us. We’re not exactly corporeal, and if you try to touch us, we might vanish. That would not be a good thing. At least, not until we’ve accomplished our mission.”

“But… but… how did you get here? Why are you here? Where’s my mum?” Harry asked, staring with mouth agape at the misty foursome.

“Easy, Harry,” Sirius grinned. “We’ve got a present for you. Let’s just say it’s a gift from your mum and we are the bearers. Okay, okay, she made us do it. She said we had many wicked deeds to make up for and this was our chance. It is difficult to argue with Lily. She’s gotten quite good at boxing our ears.”

“Lily said we had to do it ourselves. She said it was our mess and we had to be the ones to make things right, Peter included. He actually volunteered,” Remus said with wide grin.

“I’m so sorry, Harry,” Peter mumbled, hanging his head in shame. “I’ve made many mistakes in my life. I wanted to make up for all the pain I’ve caused you. I know nothing can compensate for the loss of your parents, but I’ll do whatever I can to ease some of the hurt.”

“What’s the gift from mum,” Harry asked dubiously. Knowing these four, it couldn’t be good, and maybe even illegal.

Sirius laughed. “Lily says that it is something you want desperately, but I can’t see why. It’s still ugly and greasy.”

James smirked and cuffed Sirius affectionately across the back of the head. “Stop that, Padfoot. We promised Lily we’d play nice.”

Harry looked at his father hopefully. The only ugly, greasy thing that Harry wanted was one Severus Snape, but that wasn’t possible.

“Yes it is, Harry,” James said, seemingly reading Harry’s mind.

“Of course, there’s a catch,” Sirius said with a smirk. “There always is.”

Just then, Harry felt a thud at his feet. Looking down, he was stunned to see the shivering, unconscious form of Snape. He looked like utter shite, but Harry didn’t care. The man was there in the flesh, so to speak.

“Is he alive?” Harry cried, as he knelt down and pulled Snape into his arms.

“Er, sort of,” Sirius groaned, “but it’s only temporary, and here’s the catch. You have to get him into a host body within the next six hours or he’ll disappear for good.”

“What? This doesn’t make any sense,” Harry said, shaking his head with disbelief.

“I know, Harry. It’s very complicated, but these are the rules. He needs a body to inhabit until you can find his own body.”

“I don’t know where his body is. We can’t find it, and it’s not as though we haven’t tried. I’ve searched everywhere.”

“I don’t know, son. I wish I did,” James said with genuine sympathy. “We don’t know where it is either, and your mum has no idea. Dumbledore says that someone has hidden it. Now you’ve got to go track it down before it’s too late.”

“This is impossible,” Harry whined. “How am I supposed to find his real body? I don’t know who moved it.”

“From this point on, Lily said to trust your instincts. They will guide you to Snape’s body. Once Snape is in his temporary body, you’ll have twenty-four hours to find his own body. The host body will start to decay after twelve hours. Time is of the essence here. Hurry, Harry, hurry, before the clock runs out,” Peter cautioned.

“Speaking of time, I believe our time is up,” Sirius said as he gunned the motorbike’s engine.

“Wait!” Harry cried. “Please don’t go.”

“We have to go back now, son, but know how much we all love you. Mum said to tell you she’s so proud of you and everything you’ve done.”

Mist swirled thickly around the Marauders as their visages slowly began to fade. The roar of the engine reached a deafening pitch as they waved to Harry one last time and then vanished into the night. A trail of fire streaked through the sky just as the rain began to fall.

* * * * *

Back in Harry’s private room at Hogwarts, he, Ron and, Hermione put their heads together, trying to come up with a solution to their little dilemma.

“How are we going to get a body for Snape to inhabit?” Ron asked. “There aren’t any fresh corpses lying around in the halls.”

“Hmm,” Hermione said thoughtfully as she placed a finger to her lips. “I think our best hope is the London morgue.”

“The morgue--are you daft? You want us to go to the morgue?” Ron asked horrified.

“Do you have a better suggestion? I think it’s brilliant,” Harry said, grinning widely at Hermione.

“Thank you, Harry, but we’d better get going. We need the freshest body possible. We don’t want decay to set in early.”

“Ugh,” Ron groaned. “This is disgusting.”

“It has to be done or we won’t get Snape back,” Harry reminded Ron.

“I understand the situation, but I fail to see the problem,” Ron growled.

“That’s not funny, Ron,” Harry chastised. “I want him back. If you don’t want to help, well fine, but please keep your snide comments to yourself.”

“I’m sorry, mate. Don’t get your knickers in a wad. I’m in, as usual. You know I always go along with whatever harebrained scheme that you and 'Mione come up with.” Ron grinned.

“Okay, thanks, but we really need to get going. Do you think we should take Snape with us?”

“I believe it will be safer if we leave him here under heavy wards. We can bring the body back to Hogwarts and then spell Snape’s soul into it.”

“Blimey,” Ron gasped, “do you know how to do that?”

Hermione smirked. “I know many things, Ron, many things.”

“She really does.” Harry grinned. “I’m going to go get Neville to babysit while were gone. Just in case of trouble.”

“Good idea, Harry.” Hermione agreed. “We can’t be too careful.”

* * * * *

As soon as they reached the outer gates of Hogwarts, the group Apparated to an alleyway in the heart of London. It was only a few blocks to the morgue from there. The group set out on foot, and walked the distance to the morgue. Harry cast a Notice-Me-Not spell over the three of them and they silently entered the morgue. Inside, no one was about. It was very late. The trio hurried down the deserted corridor, checking each room they came to.

There was one guard on duty, but he paid them no mind as they passed by. Hermione turned left and entered a room with stark, white walls. Four long, steel metal tables sat side by side in the middle of the room. Three of the tables had occupants, and Hermione nodded in satisfaction. “This is it,” she whispered.

“Let’s look at their charts and see who is most suitable for Snape,” Hermione suggested.

Ron cringed but didn’t protest while Harry just looked determined as he trudged forward to the first table.

“This one says he died of a massive heart attack. According to this, he’s sixty-eight years old. I think that’s just too old for Snape. I doubt that he’d be pleased.” Harry sighed.

“I don’t think an eighteen year old girl would be appropriate either. The poor thing died of anaphylactic shock. What have you got, Ron?” Hermione asked, hoping at all cost that Ron had something better suited for a grumpy Potions Master.

“Could be the one,” Ron replied excitedly. “Forty years old, died from an aneurism as a result of a gunshot wound to the leg.”

“Perfect, Ron, that’s perfect. Everyone grab one end of the table and we’ll Apparate it out of here.”

“Shouldn’t we look at the body just to make sure it will be suitable? What if he’s three hundred pounds, or something?”

“Shush,” Hermione scolded, as she listened intently. “Someone is coming. This body will simply have to do.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here now.”

The guard stood scratching his head, wondering what those strange pops were, but even stranger was the missing autopsy table. He didn’t know how he was going to explain that one to his supervisor.

* * * * *

Neville paced back and forth anxiously in Harry’s room. Snape had regained consciousness once during their absence. He’d glared at Neville for a long moment before passing out again. Neville sighed with relief as soon as the door opened and his friends stepped into the room.

The autopsy table was glamoured to resemble a large trunk as they’d levitated it through the door of Harry’s room. Neville noticed that they didn’t seem terribly worried about getting caught. Of course, this early in the morning, the likelihood of anyone being about was slim, with the exception of the occasional castle ghost.

“Thank Merlin, you’re back. Snape woke up once.”

“Is he all right?” Harry asked with concern.

“He didn’t say anything and he passed out again almost immediately. This is very spooky.”

“We don’t have any other choice, Harry. We only have a few minutes left to transfer Snape‘s soul to the host body. There is not enough time to get a new one. He is just going to have to deal with it until we find his own body.”

“Oh my God, this is a bloody nightmare,” Harry moaned.

“I don’t know, Harry. At least, Snape will be pretty for the first time in his greasy life,” Ron mused.

“She is very pretty,” Neville said, gazing at the still form of the young woman with the golden blond curls. “What’s her name?”

“Her chart said Sarah Bird. Apparently, she just died this morning from an allergic reaction to shellfish.”

“Such a shame,” Neville said with sadness.

“I agree,” Harry replied gravely, “but we really need to get on with this.”

“He’s right,” Hermione said as she moved over to Snape’s bedside. “We must do it now.”

Hermione took out her wand and waved it over Snape’s body. She closed her eyes and chanted, waving her wand in a swirling motion over the prone wizard. She picked up speed until Snape’s body began to dissolve and rematerialize into something resembling a small tornado.

With her wand, Hermione carefully pulled the tornado over the body of the young woman and lowered the whirling mass onto her chest. Lights flared and magic crackled within the room as Snape’s soul sank into the body of the deceased girl. The body twitched and convulsed on the table, sitting bolt upright with glazed eyes staring wide with terror before falling back down unconscious once more.

Harry, Ron, and Neville all jumped back in fear as Hermione felt for a pulse. She turned to the group smiling. “He’s alive,” she announced proudly. “It worked brilliantly.”

“Is she--he okay?” Harry asked as he moved closer to the young blonde woman. Harry had to admit, she was very pretty. Snape was going to hex his balls off when he regained consciousness.

* * * * *

Several long hours later, Snape opened his eyes and moaned.

“I think he’s coming around,” Harry said, rousing Hermione from her nap. The four of them had kept a constant vigil throughout the day. They took turns watching over Snape and sleeping in shifts, praying that he would soon wake up.

Snape moaned again and opened his eyes. His first vision was that of the bane of his existence hovering over him like a vulture.

“Potter,” Severus ground out hoarsely. “Water, I need water.”

“Right away, Sir,” Harry said as he hurried to the bureau and poured Snape a glass of water from the pitcher. Meanwhile, Neville helped a glaring Snape to sit up.

Neville took the glass of water from Harry and pressed it to Snape’s lips. The dark wizard drank greedily, sighing in relief as the cool liquid soothed his parched throat.

“How do you feel, Sir?” Hermione asked.

“Half dead,” Severus answered dryly.

“I can’t imagine why,” Ron snickered.

“Shush!” Hermione hissed. “We don’t want to frighten the poor man.”

“It will take a lot more than four idiotic Gryffindors to frighten me. I assure you,” Snape drawled menacingly.

“We’re in for it now, 'Mione. Wait until he sees his new body.”

“What new body? What have you done, Potter?” Snape snarled.

“Er… um… well… I… we…”

“Spit it out, Potter before I become angry,” Snape said silkily.

Harry knew just by the Professor’s tone that he was dangerously close to meeting his maker.

“Well, Sir, it’s kind of complicated,” Harry tried to explain.

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake, Potter, do be quiet. Let me hear from the know-it-all. Miss Granger, what the hell is going on?”

Hermione pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down. “It’s a long story, Professor Snape. You see, it’s like this. We were attending the All Hallows Eve gala last night at Godric’s Hollow. Harry kept hearing a strange noise buzzing in his ear, so he followed the sound into the graveyard. When he arrived, he saw his father, Sirius, Remus and Peter waiting for him. They left your body at his feet and told him he had to find a temporary body within the next six hours or you would disappear forever.”

“And you actually went in search of a body for me? Why didn’t you just let time run out?” Snape asked sceptically.

“We couldn’t do that, Sir. It’s all my fault that you died. I wanted you to have a second chance,” Harry explained.

“Um, well, we figured that the best place to get a body was from the London Morgue.”

“Indeed,” Snape said with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione could feel her face flush under the scrutiny of Snape’s thunderous gaze as she went on with the story.

“We found a suitable body for you, Sir. I cast the spell myself and it worked perfectly. We now have about fourteen hours left to find your own body. Unfortunately, the host body will begin deteriorating soon, Professor. We were hoping that you might know where your body is located?” Hermione asked.

“I’m afraid I do not know where my body is. Furthermore, I’m not sure I want to find it. I cannot believe your presumptuousness. What makes you think that I wish to return to this life?”

“But, Sir,” Harry whined, “why wouldn’t you want to return to your former life. The Dark Lord is dead and the war is over. We can start again fresh, with a clean slate.”

“Start what fresh? Are you declaring your love for me, Potter?”

“Er…” Harry’s face turned scarlet, and at that moment, everyone discovered his little secret. He was in love with his greasy potions professor. Harry groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“Bloody hell,” Ron growled. “That’s why you dumped my sister.”

“Bloody hell indeed, Mr. Weasley,” Snape crooned. “The Saviour of the Wizarding World is a poof.”

Four heads looked around suspiciously, as they heard what decidedly sounded like a giggle.

“What was that? Did you giggle, 'Mione?”

“I most certainly did not, but I heard it too. I don’t think were alone in here.”

“Get me a mirror!” Snape snarled. “Now!”

Harry retrieved a hand mirror off the bureau and shakily handed it to Snape. The gasp was audible as Snape gazed at the beautiful reflection staring back at him. Everyone jumped when the mirror went crashing to the floor and a very angry voice demanded, “Give me my wand!”

“Uh,” Harry giggled hysterically, “We’re not sure where it is, Sir. We’ll look for it as soon as we’ve gotten you back into your proper body.”

Snape shuddered with barely suppressed rage. How stupid could this lot be? What in the name of Merlin possessed them to stick his soul inside the body of a young woman? He was going to kill them all, just as soon as he found his wand.

“Please, Sir,” Hermione pleaded. “We grabbed the wrong body by mistake. The charts were switched. We’d originally found a forty-year-old man, but when we arrived back here, we discovered that we had the young woman instead. I assure you, it will be fine. It’s only temporary. We were just trying to help.”

“As usual, you’ve managed to cock up the entire situation, but then, I am not surprised.” Severus sighed.

“Excuse me, but could I have something to eat? I’m famished. I can’t seem to remember the last time I ate.”

“What the fuck?” Ron yelled. “Who said that?”

“I did?”

Everyone stared at Snape. His voice had changed. He sounded very much like a woman, and he was smiling at them. That was definitely a bad sign.

“Oh no,” Hermione groaned. “I think we have a serious problem. I think that the girl is here too. Something must’ve gone wrong. It looks like we have two souls inhabiting the same body. That should not have happened. The girl’s soul should be gone.”

“Gone where?” Sarah asked. “I’m right here.”

Suddenly the bed shook violently as Snape launched himself at Harry and wrapped his fingers around his throat. “I am going to strangle the life out of you, you miserable, interfering brat. Of all the idiotic things to do,” Severus growled as he tightened his grip around Harry’s neck.

“Stop that this instant,” Sarah cried and pulled Snape forcibly away from Harry. “Violence never solved anything,” she chastised.

Just then, Sarah looked down at her body and shrieked. “I… I don’t have any clothes on,” she cried.

“We noticed,” Ron said, staring wide-eyed at the blond beauty.

Harry ran quickly to the armoire and grabbed a robe, hastily throwing it over the naked girl.

“Sorry about that,” Harry apologized. “We’d forgotten.”

“No we hadn’t,” Ron said grinning.

“Shut up, Ron!” Hermione shouted as she helped Sarah back into the bed.

“What’s going on here? Won’t someone please tell me, and who are you people? The last thing I remember was having dinner with a girlfriend, but I don’t remember what happened next.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” Hermione said as she held the girls hand. “I don’t know quite how to tell you this, but I’m afraid you died from an allergic reaction to shellfish. The reason you’re here is that we needed a temporary body to put our friend’s soul in until we could find his real body. We didn’t know your soul would come back. We thought that you’d moved on to the next world. I can’t apologize enough. If I had known this would happen, I never would have done it.”

“I’m really dead?” Sarah asked with large, sad blue eyes. “How did you do this? It sounds like magic.”

“It is magic, you twit! How else do you think that we’ve arrived in the same body? Bloody naïve Muggles, can’t see the truth when it’s staring them in the face.”

“You wanted to bring him back?” Sarah asked dubiously. “He’s not very nice.”

Ron snorted, “You don’t know the half of it.”

* * * * *

After feeding the girl, Hermione found a suitable pair of jeans and a t-shirt for Sarah before the group finally went to the Headmistress’ office. Fortunately, the office was unoccupied when Sarah growled the password at the gargoyle. Its mouth fell open unceremoniously, but otherwise opened the door on command.

“You--you did this.” Severus gasped in shock. “Why would you take my body and not give it a proper burial?”

“Hear me out, Severus,” Minerva implored. “I could not accept the fact that you were killed, especially not by that accursed snake. I took your body to keep it safe. It’s been in stasis all this time. I knew that if there was a way for you to come back, you’d find it.”

“How is it that Albus knew nothing about this?”

“Simple,” Minerva replied. “I spelled all the portraits asleep after I retrieved your body. Only the Bloody Baron saw me bring you into the castle, and he gave me his word that he would tell no one.”

“Wow! This was easier than I thought it would be.” Harry grinned. “Where is his body?”

“Follow me,” Minerva said and crooked her finger at the stunned group. “But it might not be as simple as you think. There is a small problem.”

“Oh shite, what now?” Harry groaned.

* * * * *

Minerva led them up the winding staircase and into Albus’ former bedchamber. There on the bed lay a perfectly preserved Severus Snape. Harry sighed with relief. The man looked as though he was only sleeping.

“He looks fine, Headmistress. What’s the problem?”

“I cannot cross the wards,” Minerva shrugged, “or lower the stasis. After a few months, I gave up hope of Severus ever returning. So, I tried to lower the wards and remove the stasis charm, but the wards refused to let me enter. There is a magical barrier protecting him that I’ve been unable to penetrate.”

“Oh, that is definitely a problem,” Hermione replied. “If we can’t get through the wards, we can’t put the professor back into his body.”

“Maybe the wards are calibrated to my magical signature,” Severus suggested. “Let me try walking through them. It may simply be a case of recognition.”

“It’s worth a try. Nothing I’ve done has made any impact. I must warn you though; if it doesn’t work, you will get a nasty jolt. I’ve landed on my backside more than once trying to break in.”

“I’ll be careful,” Severus replied as he began walking cautiously toward the bed.

As he got closer, Severus turned to Harry. “You’re in love with him?” Sarah asked.

“Er, um, well, yes I am,” Harry answered blushing.

“I guess it’s true then. Love really is blind.”

“Move, girl,” Snape growled.

“As you wish,” Sarah snickered.

Severus reached out a tentative finger and just barely grazed the magic field. The response was immediate and Severus pulled back his burning digit. “Ouch!” Sarah cried. “That hurt.”

“Well, obviously that didn’t work,” Ron muttered. “What next?”

“We’ll have to research it. I suggest we all go to the library and look for books on magical shields and how to disarm them,” Hermione said as she grabbed Ron by the arm and turned toward the door.”

“Wait!” Harry yelled. “We don’t have that kind of time. These bloody wards are coming down now, if I have to blast them open.”

“I’ve tried that, Harry. The wards only strengthen when faced with a magical attack. It’s useless to try.”

“I can’t just stand here and do nothing,” Harry said with stubborn determination.

Before they could stop him, Harry whirled around and charged the wards. A collective gasp went up as Harry dove headlong through the wards and landed in a heap on the bed next to Severus’ body.

“Blimey, he did it,” Ron screeched.

“I feel Albus’ hand in this,” Severus growled. “Only that meddling old coot could pull off something this absurd.”

Harry righted himself and placed his hand gently on Snape’s chest. “What should I do now that I’m in?”

“Try kissing him, Harry. Just like in sleeping beauty.” Ron laughed.

“Stop being an idiot, Ron,” Hermione said, giving him the evil eye. “We’ve got to get Sarah in there too. I think if you come take her hand, Harry, that you will be able to lead her through the shield.”

“Please,” Neville interrupted, looking pointedly at everyone in the room. “I think that we should discuss this before we do anything hasty.”

“What’s there to talk about? Hermione can walk me through the spell to restore Snape to his body.”

“What about Sarah?” Neville asked sadly.

“I’ll be dead again,” Sarah sighed. “I suppose it was my time to go. If this will help your friend, then do it. I’m no good to anyone else now. At least this way, I will have accomplished something in my life.”

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Harry said as got up and went to the edge of the wards. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this. If there was anything I could do to prevent your death, I would. Please, take my hand now.”

“Stop,” Severus said, standing his ground. “I cannot be party to this atrocity.”

“What exactly do you propose we do?” Harry asked.

“Minerva, go to my lab and fetch several potions. I will need an antiallergenic and a soul-binding potion. Also, bring a skin rejuvenation potion and a blood thinner. If were going to do this then we are going to do it properly.”

“Wow, do you really think you can save her, Sir?”

“I once told the lot of you that I could stopper death. Now I’m going to prove it.”

“How come you couldn’t stopper your own death then?” Ron asked.

“Because--you twit--after giving over my memories to Mr. Potter, I was far too incapacitated to reach the anti-venom. I had a bag of supplies hidden in the far corner of the Shrieking Shack, but Potter went on with his blubbering so long that I was too weak to retrieve it.”

“I’m so sorry. I know it’s all my fault, but I would do anything to have you back, even though you loved my mother, and I could never take her place in your heart.” Harry sighed.

“Stop snivelling, Potter. You cannot help your Gryffindor tendencies. You have a hero complex. I have grown accustomed to it after all these years, and yes, I loved your mother--like a sister.” Severus smirked. “Now hurry, Minerva, and fetch me those potions.”

“Right away, Severus, and welcome back.” Minerva grinned as she rushed out the door.

Harry shot a brilliant smile Severus’ way. Maybe there was hope for them after all.

“Do you think it will work?” Neville asked hopefully.

“I cannot guarantee it,” Severus replied, “but it is the only chance the girl has. Are you willing to take that chance, Sarah?”

“As I see it, I’d be no worse off. If it doesn’t work, I’ll still be dead. So, yes, I’m willing to take that chance.”

“Excellent, now take Potter’s hand and let him guide you through the wards.”

* * * * *

Sarah hummed a happy tune as she assembled an arrangement of pink roses. Her Aunt Charlene smiled at her from across the room. It had been a miracle, when Sarah arrived on her doorstep one sunny afternoon, alive and in perfect health. She couldn’t remember what had happened to her, but Charlene didn’t care. She had her niece home where she belonged. Sarah was back at the university and dating a nice, polite boy named Neville. They shared the same interests and Sarah was happier than Charlene had ever seen her. No one could tell Charlene that God didn’t exist. Sarah was living proof of God’s divine intervention.

“Are you all right, Sarah? You look a million miles away.”

“Oh, I’m fine, Auntie. I was just thinking about Neville and the day he walked into the shop. I never believed in love at first sight,” Sarah laughed, “but I certainly do now.”

“Well, run along, dear. You don’t want to keep your young man waiting. I’ll finish closing up,” Charlene said smiling at her niece.

“He does look like he’s in heaven,” James replied, hugging his wife tightly.

“It still gives me the willies.” Sirius groaned.

“Get over it, Sirius,” Lily said playfully. “Just wait until the grandbabies start arriving,” she winked.

“Oh hell,” Sirius said, pulling a face as everyone laughed at his distress.

The last ride of the Marauders had been their finest hour, and as they took one fleeting look down on the two tangled, writhing forms, they smiled. All except Sirius, who thought he was about to lose his dinner.